Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC Invests $2.24 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,235,000. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $508,028,012.80. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $390.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $344.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.41%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud announced a partnership with Swedish private equity firm EQT to help more than 300 portfolio companies accelerate AI adoption, reinforcing Google Cloud’s enterprise AI momentum. Reuters: Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit, began opening its new Ojai robotaxi to select riders; the vehicle is designed to be cheaper to manufacture and lower fleet-expansion costs, which could improve the long-term economics of the business. CNBC: Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reportedly reiterated a bullish view on Alphabet Class A shares, adding to the case that investors still see upside in the company’s core businesses and AI initiatives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is testing Gemini-powered Search ad formats, including conversational discovery and highlighted answers, which could eventually boost monetization but is still in the early rollout phase. Yahoo Finance: GOOGL’s Innovative Ad Format to Boost Search Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces focused on Alphabet’s stock valuation and technical setup, including commentary suggesting support near current levels and possible upside toward $400, but these are market opinions rather than new fundamentals. Finbold: Google stock is guaranteed to hit $400…
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Justice Department charged a Google software engineer with insider trading tied to Polymarket bets, which adds reputational noise and could keep scrutiny on Alphabet’s internal controls and compliance culture. Reuters: US charges Google engineer with insider trading on Polymarket
• Negative Sentiment: Competitor commentary, including DuckDuckGo’s criticism of Google’s AI search overhaul and claims that some users are switching away, highlights ongoing competitive and antitrust pressure on Alphabet’s Search franchise. Yahoo Finance: ‘It’s Time To Fire Google,’ Urges Alphabet’s Search Engine Rival

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.